I want to preach this evening the gospel to you from the sixth verse of the twentieth chapter of Matthew's gospel. And about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? sixty minutes to go. At the eleventh hour, the good man of the house said, Why stand ye here all the day idle? Oftentimes, in the days of his life, the Lord Jesus Christ instructed his friends and silenced his accusers and enemies by parabolic teaching. He speaks to them in parables. Now, the parables are well worthy of our special study. And could I say that these parables of the kingdom have not only a personal application, but they have a national application. And they have a special application to the Jewish nation at the time when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared on earth. The parable commonly known as the prodigal son has an application to the Jew. The elder brother, you know, is a perfect type of the Jewish nation. He did not want the Gentiles to join in and get the blessing. And if you read Luke chapter 15, you will find that that parable was directed against the Pharisees and the Judaisers. of our Lord's Day. Now, of course, this parable here has a particular national application. The times of the Gentiles were about to commence. The eleventh hour had come for the Jewish nation. The Lord Jesus Christ had appeared, and the opportunity for the Jew was by them, even in their mouths and in their hearts. But at the close of the eleventh hour, when the clock of prophecy came to twelve, a new era was to open up, and the gospel was to be spread to the Gentiles. And God was to call out a people from the Gentiles for His own namesake. So there is a national application of this parable. But there is also an application in the gospel, as there is in every parable. And I want to take the gospel tonight and take it from this parable and its application. I'm taking the vineyard to represent the church. I'm taking the master of the household to represent God the Father. I'm taking the steward of the good man of the house to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm taking the day to represent the day of grace. Now in this day there was a first hour, there was a third hour, there was a sixth hour, and a ninth hour, and eleventh hour mentioned. Of course, the Jewish day didn't start as our day started. It started in the morning early. And the third hour was our hour of nine o'clock. That was the third hour. And the sixth hour was twelve o'clock. And the ninth hour with us would be three o'clock. And the eleventh hour would be five o'clock. And the end of the working day, the twelfth hour, would have been six o'clock. So here was this working day, and this good man went out to hire laborers. And he commenced some at the first hour. And then look at verse three. He commenced some about the third hour. And then look at verse five. He commenced some at the sixth and at the ninth hour. And then an hour before the working day was almost spent. What did he see? He saw men still standing idle, and the day was nearly over, and the sun was nearly setting, and the time was almost past. There was only sixty minutes to go. And yet the good man of the house said to these men, Go ye also into the vineyard. Go ye also into the vineyard. Now, let me draw the lesson for you tonight. Let me tell you that there are people, and as far as spiritually, spiritual things are concerned, at the eleventh hour they are spiritually idle. Oh, yes. They have had the first hour of opportunity, and that hour has passed them. They have come to the third hour of opportunity, and that hour has passed them. They have come to the sixth hour of opportunity, and that hour has passed them. They have come to the ninth hour, and that hour has fled from them. And tonight, it's the eleventh hour. They've only sixty minutes to go, and they have been spiritually idle all their spiritual day of opportunity. Let me tell you, friend, that you were not sent into this world for the things that are material. You weren't born into this world just to make a living. You weren't born into this world just to be successful in the trade to which you put your hand. You weren't born into this world just to eat and to drink and go through life to get as much satisfaction from life as you could get. You were born, he'll say, of coming eternity, and the things of time are secondly compared to the things that are eternal. But that's not so with modern man. Modern men are only interested in the carnal, in the tangible, in the things that they can see, in the things that they can feel, in the things that they can handle, in the things that they can hold on to. That's all they're interested in. Is that what you're interested in? And the first hour has come, and the third hour, and the sixth hour, and the ninth hour, and, friend, you're in the eleventh hour, and you haven't taken a step toward God. You haven't taken one step towards Christ. You haven't taken one step in regard to the salvation of your immortal soul. There are two things necessary in order that when the twelfth hour comes, you may be prepared to meet the good man of the house and give account of your stewardship. And the first thing necessary is repentance towards God. You need to repent. This was a burden of all the preachers that came. Do you remember John the Baptist appeared on the banks of Jordan and they gathered out to him from Judea and from Jerusalem and from beyond Jordan to listen to this fiery preaching and he cried, Repent! Repent! What does repent mean? Repent means to do a right about turn on the road to hell. The man, before he repents, his face is toward hell. After he repents, his face is toward heaven. Before he repents, He loves his sin. He practices his sin. He wallows in his sin. After he repents, he sums his sin. He rejects his sin, and he heals his sin. That's what happens. Tell me, has that happened in your life? Do you know anything about repentance told God? Do you remember what Jesus Christ said? He said, Ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. What does that mean? That means that the unrepenting soul goes to hell. So it doesn't matter whether you're religious or irreligious. Jesus said, except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. It doesn't matter whether you're honest or dishonest. Speaking from man's moral standards, God says, except he repent, he shall all likewise perish. It doesn't matter whether you're a drunkard or whether alcohol ever crossed your lips. God says, except he repent, he shall all likewise perish. It doesn't matter whether you're a member of the church or whether you're son of the church, and you wouldn't have anything to do with the church. Jesus said, except Ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. This is a task that you need to set about, friend, immediately. It's the eleventh hour for many of you. Just sixty minutes to go and you have never repented. In the early days of my ministry in Ravenhill, a young woman attended regularly the Sunday evening service. She was concerned about her soul. I went one day to see her and to talk to her. And I called her by her name. And I said, Mary, you ought to be saved. She said, Mr. Paisley, I know that. When I sit in those services, something says to me, you must be saved now. And I said, what do you do? She says, I harden myself against that voice. And every night after the appeals meet, I walk out. I said, do you realize you're doing a very dangerous thing? She said, well, I'm just 18 years of age. And she said, I'd like to enjoy life. I said, you'll enjoy life if you receive Christ. She said to me, well, I would like to go on with the dance. I'd like to go on with the pleasures. I'd like to go on with my companionship. I'd like to go on and fulfill some of my ambitions. I said, my dear young woman, God says in His book, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. She said, do you think that God at eighteen would take me into eternity? I said, Mary, let's be honest, people have died before they were eighteen. People have died before they were eighteen. She said, well, I'm not coming to Christ. I'm just eighteen. Leave me, Mr. Paisley, to my pleasures, to my dance, to my companions. I don't want to hear the gospel anymore. And the next week, my friend, that young girl was suddenly ushered into eternity. She was in her own home, and just like a flash, the thread of life was snapped, and the heart ceased its beating, and the lungs ceased drawing in the oxygen of life, and she was in eternity. Eternity! Sixty minutes to go, and not ready! I wonder, my friend, how soon you'll be in eternity. Am I preaching to some man, some woman in this hall tonight, and it's the last Sunday night there'll ever be upon this earth? You've come in tonight to listen, and you plan that you'll be here next Sunday, and the following Sunday, and the following Sunday, but my friend, you'll not be here. This is your final opportunity, 60 minutes to go, and you'll never repent of it. There's something else necessary if you're going to get into heaven. Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ. This is the work of God that ye believe in him whom he hath sent. Let me repeat that. This is the work of God. that ye believe in him whom he hath sent." My friend, that work of God has not been wrought in your heart. There's just sixty minutes to go. It's the eleventh hour now. I'm convinced, my friend, that there are people in this hall and they're nearer eternity to might than the faith I'm convinced in my heart there's someone here, and this week's going to be their last week on earth, and this service is going to be their last gospel service. God, help me to speak to your soul. God, help me to speak words of clam, thunder, blast warning to your heart. that you might not be a fool and spend all eternity in hell, but by the grace of God in the eleventh hour you may repent and turn to Christ and pray, God be seen forevermore. You know, this story is the story of grace, isn't it? The man that worked from the first hour and the man who came in at the eleventh hour, they got the same wages. And praise God, there's mercy on grace with the Lord. Here's God's sovereignty, friend. This is what God says. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? And God can give grace to the sinner in the eleventh hour, just before midnight. Just before the darkness of eternity falls upon the soul, praise God, there's mercy with the Lord. Just remind it, as I preach, of an experience I had some years ago. I was asked to visit the man in the Royal Victoria Hostel, and I went up to the ward. I gave the man's name. And the nurse smiled and she said, Would you believe it, sir? There are two men in this ward called by the very same name, both their Christian name and their surname. I said, That's strange. She says, Do you know the man that you're going to talk to? I said, No, he's a friend of one of my members. I was asked to visit him. She said, Well, let's come and look at both men and you can have a little word with them and tell who the friend was and you'll find the right one. So we went into the ward, and she came to one bed, and she said, that's one of them, but he was sleeping. Well, I said, there's no use disturbing him. Let's go up the ward to the other one. And she introduced me to the other man. He had the same name, too. And I said to him, when she laughed, I said, I have a member of my church called by such and such a name, and they asked me to come and see you. He said, well, I don't know anything about that. He says, I don't even know that person. Well, I said, I've come now, and I said, sir, if you don't mind, I would like to talk to you. He said, Mr. Paisley, he knew me. He said, Mr. Paisley, I'd like you to talk to me. I'd like you to talk to me about salvation. I said, that's what I want to talk to you about. He said, I've been disturbed by this man. So I talked to him, and I led him to the Lord. He got saved, came to Christ. When I left the ward and I passed the other man, he was still sleeping. The next day I was back up in the hospital to visit the other man. And when I went into the ward, I went to his bed. This time he was awake. I made myself known. He said, You were in the other day. I said, That's right. And I said, You were sleeping. He said, That's right. And you went up the ward to a man called by the very same name. I said, That's right. He said, You know, he died a few hours after you left. He was in eternity. But friend, he got saved in the eleventh hour. Sixty minutes to go, but thank God for the grace of God. God didn't make any mistake putting two men of the same name into that war. God didn't make any mistake. He had it all worked out in His sovereign plan of infinite tenderness and compassion. God had it all worked out for His own glory. My, I'm going to meet that man in heaven. Praise God, I'll meet him and we'll rejoice together. You know, the other man, he wouldn't have anything to do with me. He said, I don't want to hear anything about the gospel. I don't want to be saved. He said, I didn't want my friend even to ask you to come. Why did you do that? But I read and prayed with them anyway. You know, it's a good thing when people are sick, they're in bed, they can't get out of bed, so you have an opportunity. So you just take the opportunity. It reminded me of George Gibson, the old cattle dealer of Crossgar. He was bringing a Roman Catholic sergeant home from a fair one day in County Down. And he was preaching to them. And as George preached, he got the boot on the accelerator and he pressed it down farther and farther. And the sergeant saw the needle of the speedometer come to 50, 60, 70, 75. And he said, George, take it easy. It is 75 miles an hour you are doing. And you are preaching with one hand in the wheel. On the other hand, you are preaching to me. And George says, that's right, seventy-five miles an hour, sergeant, into hell. You better get ready! You better get ready! You better get ready! Well, George preached in season and out of season. It's the way you have to do it. Sixty minutes to go, and the grace of God calling you. The good man of the house came out, and he touched him, and he said, go, join the rest. Go into my vineyard. Hear my call. You know, my friend, this message is applicable to those who are advanced in age, and there are some older people here. And, my friend, you have been up the incline of life, and you are on the decline now. Your youth is gone. Your young manhood and young womanhood has spread forever. The days of maturity are past, and the age of frailty has come upon you. And, friend, you are not saved. Some of you have sat under gospel preaching all your days, and you are not saved. And you have got old and gray-headed under gospel preaching, but you are not saved. Aid, soul, tonight I would appeal to you in God's name. Sixty minutes to go, but praise God you can be saved tonight. You can turn to Christ and be saved. When I was a student studying for the ministry, I visited often in a home, and there was a dear old lady in that home. She was an Irish Presbyterian, one of the old blue stocking Presbyterians, knew the catechism backside forward, not only the shorter, but the larger. She was a real old Presbyterian, but she wasn't saved. I used to call her grandmother, and she took L, and I went out to see her. I climbed up the stairs and went into her room, and she said, ìIan, Iím glad to see you, and we talked about many things.î And then I opened the Bible, and I said, ìGrandmother, Iíd like to talk to you about the Lord.î And then the atmosphere got very tense. And I read to her about Nicodemus and what the Lord said, ìYou must be born again.î And I said to her as tenderly as I could, I said, ìGrandmother, you would need to be born again.î She was very angry. She said, Ian, you had no right to come here and tell me that. She said, you know just how I think about these things. And I don't go in for this salvation business. And I don't go in for this new birth business. She said, I was baptized in the Presbyterian Church and have attended it all my life. I never did anybody any harm. I'm a good, straight, honest woman. I'm 76 years of age. And she said, if anybody will get into heaven, I will. I said, Grandmother, I want to tell you it'll not be heaven you'll be in, you'll be in hell. And I said, I know after today our friendship's finished. I know that. I know after today you'll not want to talk to me. But I said, Grandmother, someday you and me will be at God's judgment bar. And it would be a terrible thing if you turned round to me and said, Ian Paisley visited in my home and talked to me and never told me I needed to be saved. So I said, I've come to tell you. She said, you can go. So I shut my book and I went to the door of the bedroom. I discerned a little tear in Grandmother's eye. So I stood in the doorway and I said, Grandmother, is that final? Are you saying goodbye, not to me, but to Jesus today? She burst out into tears. She said, Ian, could Jesus wash away 76 years of sinning and receive me an old woman that rejected him all my life. Could he do that? I said, praise God he can do that. And I went back into the room and I knelt down and I took her free hand in mine and I prayed and I said, Lord Jesus, Here's grandmother, seventy-six years of age, a Christ rejecter, a religious woman, a good woman from the standards of the world, but as far as you're concerned, a rejecter of your son, and she wants to come to you. And grandmother prayed the sinner's prayer and came to Jesus, got gloriously saved. Not long afterwards, she passed the river. And she said to the Presbyterian minister, he was an old apostate. He knew nothing about the gospel. She said when she was dying, and of course she was a good church woman and paid into the church and he would have done anything for her, she says, I want Ian Paisley to preach at the graveside. He says, what do you want him for? I had a bad reputation even in those days, twenty-two years ago. I never had a good reputation in my life. She says, I just want him to preach at the grave. So I went to the funeral, and he went over his antics in the house, for that's all you could call them. He was an old sinner himself, knew nothing about the gospel, led his congregation to hell, made jokes about gospel preachers, laughed at Bible thumpers, as he called them. But at the graveside, I was there, and he said to me, this woman told me that you were to preach at the graveside. I said, sir, that's what I intend to do. So we stood there like a stuffed mummy and I preached the gospel hot and strong. And after I finished, I said, men, I'm going to tell you a wee story. I'm going to tell you what grandmother would have told you if you hadn't been here. And I told how I led grandmother to the Lord. You'd have seen those big men standing and the tears running down their cheeks. as I told about seventy-six years of sins going under the blood. It's a great thing, isn't it? There's a man sitting up in the gallery tonight on my left-hand side. He got saved many years ago, and he had a dear mother. She was just like that woman. She was a good religious woman, but she wasn't saved. And one night that man came into a mission I had in Lisbon. And he said, Mr. Paisley, a miracle has happened tonight. My mother, who's a religious woman, but a Christ rejecter, she's in the service. And he said, Mr. Paisley, if we got Mother saved tonight, what a night it would be. And you know, after I'd finished preaching tonight, the first hand that was raised in that meeting was that brother who's in the service, his mother's hand. And I led her to the Lord. She's in heaven tonight. She's in the glory land. Sixty minutes to go, I'm appealing to you older people. Yes, you're good people. You're decent people. Your loyalty can't be questioned. You've supported me in my battles. God knows I love you, but you're not seeing. Oh, if I could carry your grandmother, grandfather in my arms and place you in the arms of Jesus, I would do it. But I can't do that. You've got to come. You know, this scripture is applicable to those who are feeling the scourge of sickness. Is God shaking the frail tabernacle? Do you feel the pulse shivering and the tent pegs being pulled up and you're not too well? You haven't the energy you used to have. You haven't the exuberance and vitality you used to have. You tire easy now. Things are different now and you go home and you say, I used to be able to do those things. I can't do them now. Sixty minutes to go! The old body's feeling the burden and the heat of the day. Oh, let me appeal to you, friend. Why go on down life's journey without Jesus? Why go on to face death and eternity and hell? Why not meet my Savior tonight and go away rejoicing in a friendship that sticketh closer than a brother? And, my friend, This applies to every one of us. You go into a graveyard, and there are long graves there. Adult people die. But in the graveyard, there are short little graves. Children die. Young people die. Friend, it's really only 60 minutes to go for every one of us. And I would appeal to the young people tonight in this meeting I would appeal to you, friends, in your youth, in your exuberance, in your joy, in life's best opening up before you, I would appeal to you tonight to come and take Christ as your Savior. Sixty minutes to go, but I'm saved, I'm ready. Is that what you can say? God grant that you'll say it tonight. Thou didst not spare for me, I shall be glad that's all. Here I shall be, and then I shall be whiter than the snow. O the legend of Thy goodness, make me to hear Thy voice. That to the very bones which now have broken, may be yours. All my years in the world, I wish I'd known my sin. The angels did not fly, we knew our right standing way. Cast me not from thy sight, nor take my holy spirit away. With joy will thy salvation shine, With thy peace with me still. Then will I teach thy wisdom true, Though black and red the sea, And o'er the sea thy blood shall flow, Eternally unto thee.